Leeds United know how Bournemouth feel. When the two sides met at Elland Road in September, they were the dominant hosts left wondering how they had conceded a stoppage-time equaliser.
If anything, Leeds were more dominant and more aggrieved in the first match than Bournemouth were in the second. Their 1.84 expected goals (xG), 19 shots and eight on target seven months ago were superior to Bournemouth’s in Dorset on Wednesday night. And yet the outcome was the same.
Junior Kroupi was the villain of the piece from a Leeds perspective at Elland Road, where he began the series of goals that led to his 11th of the season last night. Sean Longstaff, Bournemouth’s heartbreaker with a 97th-minute equaliser at Vitality Stadium, had also scored in the reverse fixture.
For the former Newcastle United midfielder, the circumstances were very different back then. In Longstaff’s fifth consecutive start, he produced what remains his best performance of the season.
He was indomitable on that September afternoon. Nobody beat his 14 defensive contributions, six tackles or 10 duels won. He created seven chances, with the game’s next best creator on two. Similar to this week, there was a lashed finish, but more significant was the team celebration he led after Joe Rodon’s goal.
Multiple team-mates have since described that— along with Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s half-time intervention at Manchester City — as the key moment in what looks like this season’s run to Premier League safety. It was simple, but Longstaff, as one of the more experienced top-flight players, was using that goal to remind the team they could compete at this level and established opponents, like Bournemouth, were not something to fear.
Seven months on, few fans would have expected Longstaff to have started just 10 of United’s 34 league games. A November injury prior to the trip to Etihad Stadium, where the club’s form improved, put him down the pecking order and he has failed to force his way back.
And yet, here in April, with the run-in upon the club and its biggest knockout match for 30 years coming into view at Wembley, Longstaff stirred those emotions again. On a night they had been under the pump for long spells at Bournemouth, they hung in, never said die and gave Longstaff that chance to hammer a late strike that lights the blue touch paper on a defining weekend.
Longstaff scored his first Leeds goal since the previous meeting with Bournemouth (Michael Steele/Getty Images)
This was not a win for Leeds and it was not pretty, but the manner of the equaliser will do wondrous things for confidence, morale and belief. It felt like Daniel Farke’s side were just about safe from relegation after Saturday’s win over Wolverhampton Wanderers, so a loss against Bournemouth, while not ideal, would not have undone all the progress and good feeling of recent weeks.
It could have been shrugged off. Attention could have been easily switched to Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final, but no. The unbeaten run will be extended (seven matches in all competitions). Another point will be added to the league tally (40). A popular fringe player will have that unifying moment of ecstasy in the spotlight.
On the night their cup opponent sacked their second head coach in four months, four days before kick-off, with their campaign in tatters, United’s 20-man squad smashed through another brick wall. A win would have been better, but after the game, Farke claimed there were few better ways Leeds could have prepared for Wembley.
“Perhaps a win, but it feels today like a win,” he said. “This type of winning points is sometimes more important than the easy cruise to 3-0 or 4-0.
“This is important for the group, important for the mentality, for the spirit and also to know we can’t just win points when we are at our very best and dominating like we’ve done in the last games.
“Sometimes, with will and belief in a scruffy game, we can also fight our way to a point. That’s what we’ve done and it’s a perfect morale booster, not just for the cup game, but also for the whole run-in. Definitely good.”
Ironically, it was the Leeds players who are not expected to start on Sunday who were among those to shine. Karl Darlow, the undisputed No 1 goalkeeper at the club, has watched Lucas Perri make the FA Cup his own, but he did everything to turn Farke’s head in Dorset.
Yes, a clean sheet would have sent the perfect message, but in the circumstances, Darlow was keeping the score down. He made five saves and recovered the ball 16 times (more than twice as much as anyone else on the pitch) to keep Leeds heads above water.
Lukas Nmecha, who is unlikely to oust either Noah Okafor or Calvert-Lewin from Sunday’s XI, had more touches (nine) in an opposition area than anyone else on the pitch. He only came on in the 64th minute. He was instrumental in protecting the ball before Wilfried Gnonto’s drive at James Hill for the first equaliser.
Pascal Struijk, who will start on Sunday, was colossal in defence. His 19 defensive contributions, two blocks and 14 clearances were unmatched on the night. No Leeds player won more than his eight duels. Bournemouth scored twice, but so many attacks were foiled by the Netherlands defender.
At full time, United’s away end, the diehards who commit to a 10-hour round-trip from West Yorkshire in the car on a Wednesday night, proudly sang: “We are staying up!” They do not make such protestations lightly.
They travel with their team now to the capital, unburdened by what they see as a mission accomplished in the league. Sunday is a free hit, a reward for their team after four losses in 25 matches. Chelsea have given an interim head coach three days to salvage their entire campaign.
